Ethnic Groups and Discrimination

Caucasian Americans arrived in this country several different ways. The primary way was colonization from Europe. We all know the story of how America was colonized. The Caucasian American group did not face prejudice, segregation or racism. The Caucasian American however did promote prejudice, segregation, and racism to all subordinate classes of race. This document will show examples of each type of discrimination that the Caucasian Americans promoted. Slavery is a form of discrimination against subordinate groups of people. The first sign of slavery in America were the Spaniards treatment of Native Americans.

According to “A Timeline of Important Events” (2008), in 1517 the Spaniards were working Native Americans on plantation farms. The Spaniards began bringing in slaves from Africa when those Native Americans died from disease and horrible working conditions. Caucasian Americans continued this action in 1619, by bringing 20 Africans to Jamestown, Virginia, and forcing them to work as slaves in the British colonies. ("A Timeline of Important Events," 2008) Thus began the Caucasian Americans involvement and cause of prejudice, segregation, and racism in the United States.

Caucasian Americans continued down the path of discrimination and have not been able to stop it since those naive beginnings. The United States has terms that have evolved since the abolishment of slavery but exist due to discrimination. Terms such as double jeopardy, redlining, dual labor markets, and glass ceilings and walls were born from discrimination in America. Additional terms or actions were created to combat these discriminations such as environmental justice and affirmative action. In the terms that have evolved we begin with double jeopardy.

Double jeopardy is the combination of two subordinate statuses, defined as experienced by women of color. (Schaefer, 2006). Both African American and Hispanic women earn less than Caucasian and African America men as well as Caucasian American women because of their race and gender. The cause is more based on the discrimination in financing of the education system by Caucasian tax payers. Redlining is the pattern of discrimination against people trying to buy homes in minority and racially changing neighborhoods.

People are being required to have higher credit scores or larger down payments because of their race instead of financial stability. “The significance of mortgage credit redlining on the quality of urban housing is apparent. However, the necessity of classifying lender reluctance to extend conventional loans as a form of redlining is less apparent. ” (Hutchinson, Ostas, & Reed, 1977, 463). This paper shows that it is not necessarily location as much as financial lending practices of the entities.

Dual Labor Markets and glass ceilings and walls have separate definitions but can be part of the same discriminations. The dual labor market is the division of high paying jobs and low paying jobs. Typically Caucasian Americans hold the higher paying jobs and subordinate groups hold the low paying jobs. In the same aspect the subordinate groups do not move into better paying positions or management positions due to the glass ceilings and walls. Glass ceilings and walls are defined as barrier that blocks the promotion of a qualified worker because of gender or minority membership. (Schaefer, 2006).

In order to combat these types of discriminations as well as other types, terms such as affirmative action and environmental justice were created. Affirmative action was created to recruit subordinate group members for jobs and promotions in business. It was created to eliminate glass ceilings and walls. It should have also eliminated dual labor markets in the wage difference. Considered we still read about wage discrimination in the news today, it is still a work in progress. The environmental justice effort is to keep dishonest property owners from selling known land with health hazards to people of any race or class.

So far lawsuits based on this action are homes owned by minorities. (Schaefer, 2006) This action gives the impression that Caucasian Americans are responsible for the original injustice. The final discrimination that the Caucasian Americans are involved is the reverse discrimination. This is stated in the text as government actions cause better-qualified White men to be bypassed in favor of women and minority men. This can be seen in things such as specific scholarships only for minorities and genders for higher education.

There are also Home loans that can only be applied for by a certain race or gender status. These programs are government sponsored. Schaefer (2006) stated, “Reverse Discrimination is an emotional term because it conjures up the notion that somehow women and minorities will subject White men in the United States to the same treatment received by minorities during the last three centuries. ” (Chap. 3, p. 84). So does this mean that Caucasian Americans are inventing a false discrimination against Caucasian Americans? The statement defines it this way. In conclusion I believe

racial discrimination was caused by Caucasian Americans in the beginning of America. I personally do not believe in the actions my ancestors took against other races and genders. The actions taken to correct the actions are a good start. I personally have a no-color, no-gender approach to life in America. I do not culturally identify more with United States mainstream culture which tries to abide by these same guidelines. Reference: A Timeline of Important Events. (2008). Call & Post, 92(6), 2D Retrieved June 27, 2008 from ProQuest database. Schaefer, Richard T.